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I think it is Kamen Rider... It sounds pretty similar.
Edited by General9786
Does it? I don't know much about Kamen Rider, but I don't think there's a team and combining mechs involved.
And wasn't Kamen Rider a live-action series? The one I saw was anime and they don't wear any special costumes. The mecha and clothing felt very 80s like Dirty Pair, Macross, amd Saber Rider (w/o the special costumes). Thanks for the input!
...You know, this might be Megazone23. The third movie had a whole team of people in transforming motorcycles.
ian: Yes, Kamen Rider's a live action series. I didn't mention that because I find it hard to believe there's never been an anime adaptation for such a popular show.
Mmm, after checking it up, no, it's not Megazone 23 either; should have mentioned that earlier but I wasn't aware of part 3 or the transforming bikes there. As I recall each bike on the series I'm looking for can't transform into a mech; they can only combine into one big robot. And I believe it was a TV series, so it would likely have a lot more episodes. Anywayz thanks for the heads up on M23; I think I'll check it out again in the meantime.
That's most likely to be Galactic Gale Baxinger (Ginga Reppū Bakushingā). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz5PrnCFTw8
Oh man now I'm confused. I could have sworn they weren't wearing any flashy costumes and that it was set on an industrial city, and yet the transformation sequence http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/anime/watch/v15603488G8pXwq5x and their faces do fit in my memory. Maybe the inconsistency was because of the only episode I saw, in which the lady of the team (or a long-haired feminine guy?) dons some scuba gear to infiltrate a factory or something like that. I'm 90% sure this is it! watching the transformation sequence gives me nostalgic chills. Thanks!
Saw this anime on TV when I visited Japan in the early-to-mid-80s. A group of 4 or 5 people, each having a huge bike/trike/bike-with-sidecar of his/her own, led by a sexy black-haired lady. Their vehicles can combine into one giant mech. (Each vehicle is big enough for a person to fit into when it transforms for combining.) They seem to lean on the spy/cloak and dagger stuff and then they form the giant robot for the climactic battle of the episode. Been trying to look for this for decades.